Stephen Frears to Direct Ben Foster in Lance Armstrong Biopic

Although two different biopics on Lance Armstrong are already said to be in the works in addition to a feature documentary, Deadline is reporting that director Stephen Frears has his own plans for a Armstrong film and that production could begin as early as this fall with Ben Foster in the lead.

Frears’ take, which does not yet have a title, will arrive from Working Title Films with Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner producing. Known for a diverse array of films like High Fidelity, The Queen and Dirty Pretty Things, Frears’ latest is the HBO telefilm Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight.

The previously-announced dueling Armstrong biopics include one by director Jay Roach with a screenplay by Scott Z. Burns and one from Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot Productions that adapts Juliet Macur’s non-fiction book Cycle of Lies. The documentary, The Armstrong Lie, was just announced for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.